Undemanding
by Atalan
Summary: An evening at home for Meifu's notorious partners in crime. Utterly plotless Watari-Tsuzuki fluff.


A/N: My pairings of choice are Tatsumi/Watari or Tatsumi/Tsuzuki, depending on mood, so I have no idea why this has ended up being the first fic I've written for the series... I just found myself thinking "Hey, wouldn't Tsuzuki and Watari be a bundle of CUTE?". And, um, yeah. Set sometime before Hisoka's arrival. No warnings, save for a bit of boykissing, which is all of the good, and NO PLOT WHATSOEVER.  
  
  
**Undemanding**  
  
  
  
"That's interesting."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I ran a search on the case. It's turning up records from about three years back with similar features." Watari frowned and leaned back on his hands, regarding the lighted screen. He was cross-legged on the floor, his laptop on Tsuzuki's coffee table. "I remember one or two of them. They were in my area. I retrieved the souls, but I never figured out what caused the problem."  
  
Tsuzuki, sitting sideways on the sofa with his back against the armrest, looked appalled. "You've been _working_ all this time? I thought you were just hacking into something!" He considered. "Or playing solitaire."  
  
Watari turned his head to cast an amused look at his friend. "I had an idea I wanted to check out. It seemed silly to wait until tomorrow, when I could just do it here."  
  
Tsuzuki grumbled wordlessly and closed the book he'd been studying intently for the last hour or so. "Does that mean I have to help?"  
  
"I didn't say that." Watari turned back to his screen. "But if you're offering..."  
  
Tsuzuki sighed and sat up straight, draping himself over his bent knees and watching as Watari scrolled through a case file. He gestured vaguely with the book. "I don't get why I seem to end up doing _more_ work when I've got you as a partner than I did when I was with Tatsumi."  
  
"What can I say? These things bug me til I solve them." Watari didn't look up, still absorbed in the contents of the screen. "Hey, have you got the folder for the cat lady lying around here?"  
  
"No, it's back in the office, of course." Tsuzuki rolled his eyes. The 'cat lady' was a woman who'd refused to pass on unless someone could be found to take care of her twenty-seven pets. He didn't see what it had to do with the case. "Why do you want it?"  
  
"One of these victims was her next-door neighbour a few years ago. Funny thing, coincidence, huh?" Watari absently shook his hair back over his shoulders; somehow it always seemed to come undone during the course of the evening, no matter how well he'd tied it up. "She'd be an ideal witness, if she saw anything. She wants to stay on our good side to keep an eye on her precious cats."  
  
"Konoe's going to kill us when he finds out, you do know that, right?" Tsuzuki said.  
  
"Nah. Konoe likes cats. It's Tatsumi we'll have to watch out for." Watari glanced over his shoulder, pushing his glasses up in an imitation of Tatsumi's well-known mannerism. _"And why, exactly, did you feel it appropriate to flout the laws on _this_ occasion, Tsuzuki-_san_, Watari-_san_?"_  
  
Tsuzuki snickered. "And what're you going to tell him? That she took her handbag to you and you ran away?"  
  
"Hey, hey, that old woman and that handbag knocked three years off my afterlife!" Watari grinned at him, eyes sparkling with mischief. "I say we send Tatsumi up to see for himself. You know what he's like with women..."  
  
Tsuzuki laughed harder. "Cruel. Very cruel."  
  
"Eh. He needs to loosen up." Watari returned his attention to the computer. "You know, the cross-checker's not coming up with much. Or rather, it is, but there are way too many common factors."  
  
"Figures. Nothing's ever easy. Do you want me to go get the files from the office?"  
  
There was no answer. Tsuzuki watched for a few moments as Watari, now leaning forward with one elbow propped on the table, clicked around on the screen. The intent expression on his face suited him. Nice as it was that Watari was all smiles most of the time, Tsuzuki rather liked it when he was serious, too. He managed to focus without getting scary like Tatsumi, or over-strict like Konoe, or irritable like Yamamoto, Tsuzuki's latest partner, who'd finally quit after a bare year of working together.  
  
Tsuzuki pushed that thought aside before it could depress him.   
  
"Yutaka?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
The vagueness of the response let Tsuzuki know that his question hadn't actually been heard. He smiled to himself and scooted along the sofa until he was behind Watari, then leaned forward so that he was looking over the other man's shoulder.  
  
"What've you found?"  
  
"I'm not sure." Watari moved his hand from the mouse to the keyboard and began to type rapidly in a search box that had popped up. "Just give me a minute to run this algorithm, it might make things clearer..."  
  
Tsuzuki watched strings of nonsensical characters appear on the screen apparently at random. This was one of those things he'd never be able to understand about Watari; even learning another language seemed a mammoth undertaking to Tsuzuki, but learning this half-letter half-number gibberish? And Watari could somehow spot when he'd made a mistake, hitting backspace so rapidly that the error was gone before Tsuzuki had even registered the change.  
  
When Watari showed no signs of stopping soon, Tsuzuki's gaze drifted to his hands on the keys. He had long-fingered, skillful hands, although they were usually dotted with calluses and chemical burns. Watari didn't even look down at the keys; his fingers seemed to know exactly where to go by themselves. Tsuzuki sighed loudly to show that he was bored, but gained no response. Then he rested his chin on Watari's shoulder - still nothing.  
  
Finally he slipped off the sofa and wrapped his arms around the scientist from behind, tucking his chin more comfortably against Watari's neck and burrowing his face into the loose, golden hair that was now effectively blinding him.  
  
The clicking of the keys slowed and finally stopped. Watari leaned back, accepting the embrace, and laughed softly. "Alright, I'm done. You needn't have resorted to drastic measures."  
  
"Drastic? This isn't drastic." Tsuzuki's voice was muffled by Watari's hair. "Drastic would be if I'd gone round the other side of the table and looked sad."  
  
"Hmm. True." Watari's hand found one of Tsuzuki's where it lay warm against his waist. "Are you okay? You've been quiet this evening."  
  
Tsuzuki's arms tightened slightly. If Tatsumi had asked that question, it would have been a pointed demand to know what was wrong; from Watari, it was just a subtle expression of concern, and the gentle pressure of a hand on his reminded him that he didn't have to answer if he didn't want to.  
  
Which, oddly, made him answer more honestly than he might have done. "It's just been a long week. The last couple of cases I've had were hard to deal with on my own."  
  
"I know." Watari's other hand went up to catch the back of Tsuzuki's head, running his fingers lightly through the other man's hair. "Just remember: if you need a partner, the sixth is so quiet I sometimes wonder what they're paying me for."  
  
Tsuzuki closed his eyes to enjoy the touch of a hand in his hair. "Did you ask Konoe if you could work this case with me, then? I thought it was a bit convenient."  
  
"Actually, no." Watari's hand stilled and Tsuzuki made a small noise of disappointment. "I think Tatsumi arranged it. He worries about you, you know."  
  
"You think so? I'm not sure." Tsuzuki lifted his head and brushed Watari's hair aside so that he could see his face in profile. "Sometimes I think he just wants to keep me out of trouble so it doesn't cost the department too much money."  
  
Watari shook his head. His tone, when he spoke, was light, a wordless agreement to drop the subject. "If that were true, do you really think he'd pair us together?"  
  
He turned to look at Tsuzuki, eyes sparkling, so close that their noses were almost touching. Tsuzuki couldn't help but grin. The two shared a moment of pure, wicked glee at the knowledge that their antics were feared by most of the Judgement Bureau.  
  
Tsuzuki leaned forward the small distance between them, catching Watari in a kiss before he could say anything else. He didn't protest at all, but instead half-turned towards Tsuzuki, mouth opening willingly. Tsuzuki closed his eyes and relinquished control, allowing himself to be drawn into the other man's arms. He tangled his fingers in long golden hair and sighed into the kiss, for a moment content simply in its warmth and familiarity.  
  
After a while, Watari drew away, leaving Tsuzuki to blink and try to follow. He was met with a quiet laugh, a little puff of breath on his lips.  
  
"Later," Watari said, both a command and a promise. "I was right in the middle of this, remember?"  
  
Tsuzuki groaned and let his forehead _thunk_ onto Watari's shoulder. "There was a time when I thought you'd be much easier to distract than Tatsumi, you know?"  
  
Watari snickered quietly. He made no attempt to dislodge Tsuzuki, but manouvered so that he could reach the mouse, even with the other man leaning on him from the side.  
  
"I'm too good at distracting myself," he said. "I have to be able to concentrate sometimes, or I'd never get anything done."  
  
"You never get anything done anyway." Tsuzuki's voice was muffled. "_How_ long have you been working on that gender-switch thing, again?"  
  
"Three years." Watari shrugged pointedly, causing Tsuzuki to fall off his shoulder with a startled yelp. "But not for want of trying! Or lack of concentration!" He clicked on something on the screen. "Ah. Now we're getting somewhere."  
  
Tsuzuki picked himself up off the floor, muttering about some people being _no fun_ and picking up _bad habits_ from _workaholic secretaries,_ but was ignored.   
  
"Where are we getting?" he asked.  
  
No answer, save for Watari leaning forward and absently shoving his glasses back up his nose with his free hand as he frowned at the screen.  
  
Tsuzuki sighed, leaned back against the sofa and reached for his book. It was clear that his playmate wasn't going to co-operate for a while yet. He found his place and once again devoted a large proportion of his attention to the pages. Occasionally he would nod, or look thoughtful, or murmur "Ah!" like he'd just realised something.  
  
After about half an hour, Watari sat back and said, "I think I've got it."  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
Watari turned the computer towards him. "Yes, look, it's---" A pause. "Are you listening?"  
  
Tsuzuki quickly shut the book. "Yep. Listening. Go right ahead."  
  
"What _is_ that you're reading, anyway?" Watari grinned. "I've never seen you concentrate so hard in your life."  
  
Tsuzuki held out the book, ignoring the remark about concentration. "It's that cookery book Tatsumi gave me a while back," he said. "I've been reading the advanced section."  
  
Watari looked suddenly wary. "Ah. Er. Were you planning to cook tonight?"  
  
"Well, there's this chicken and rice dish I want to try..."  
  
A pained look crossed Watari's face. "You sure you don't want to, ah, order in or something?"  
  
Tsuzuki caught his eye and smiled - very innocently and very deliberately.  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
Watari held his gaze for a moment before giving up with a resigned sigh.   
  
"Okay."  
  
It was the unspoken rule between them: Watari fed his experiments to Tsuzuki without encountering more than token protest, so long as Tsuzuki got to feed them both his cooking in return.  
  
"Although, I guess you have improved a bit since you got that book," Watari muttered almost inaudibly. Tsuzuki blinked and leaned closer.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing." Watari gestured to the screen. "I've got our link."  
  
"Already? I thought you said they had too many things in common?"  
  
"They did, but I refined the algorithm to eliminate characteristics that might have led to similar occurrences in each of their lives..." Watari stopped when he saw Tsuzuki's blank look. "I made it look for outside influences," he tried instead. "They're less likely to be coincidence."  
  
"Oh. Right." Tsuzuki hesitated. "Um. And?"  
  
"They've all visited a particular hot springs resort in Hokkaido. One that's rumoured to be haunted, more to the point."  
  
"Aha." Tsuzuki leaned forward, resting his arms on his drawn-up knees and his chin on his arms. "Kappa?"  
  
"Maybe." Watari reached over and closed the laptop. "The point is, we'll have to go out there to investigate." He looked at Tsuzuki, eyes gleaming with mischief. "And, y'know, it's quite isolated, so we'd have to stay _at _the springs themselves..."  
  
Tsuzuki perked up as he realised where this was heading. "You think Tatsumi will let us? Won't he just say it's Saya and Yuma's area and pass the case on?"  
  
"Nah-ah." Watari shook his head smugly. "They all died in sectors two or six. Whatever it was followed them away from the springs and struck later. That makes it our case."  
  
"Funny how it would pick people out of our areas and nowhere else."  
  
"Ah, well..." Watari pushed his glasses up with one long finger, his expression turning conspiratorial. "So, my search might have turned up a few cases in other districts, too. Maybe. But, y'know..."  
  
"... what Tatsumi doesn't know won't stop him letting us go to the hot springs?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Watari punctuated the remark by stabbing a finger ceilingwards. Tsuzuki ignored him, too enraptured by the prospect before him.  
  
"Mmm. Hot springs. I can't wait."  
  
Watari snickered. "I seem to remember that the last time we were somewhere like that, you got dumped in the women's pool when Terazuma transformed."  
  
"At least I was fully clothed," Tsuzuki muttered, torn between a smile and a frown. "Unlike that guy, when Wakaba changed him back right after." The smile won. Then he thought of something else. "But it'll just be us this time."  
  
"Hmm." Watari leaned sideways to regard him thoughtfully. "That might be... nice."  
  
"There won't be anyone reminding us about the budget..."  
  
Watari laughed. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking, but yes."  
  
Tsuzki eyed him with equal parts curiosity and amusement.  
  
"Just what _were_ you thinking?"  
  
Watari didn't answer for a moment, instead meeting Tsuzuki's eyes with a half-smile, half-smirk. Then he reached out, cupped his hand around the back of Tsuzuki's neck, and very slowly and deliberately drew the other man towards him.  
  
"It would be easier to show you..."  
  
Tsuzuki let himself be drawn closer, fighting a smile with feigned confusion. "Maybe you'd better..."  
  
Kissing Watari was always a little odd, if Tsuzuki was honest: a strange blend of familiarity and anticipation that was quite different from the nervous uncertainty he'd felt before. He supposed it was because they were friends, had been friends for years before the slow and mutual shift of affections. It wasn't that it was boring, because it wasn't, or that it lacked passion, because it didn't - but he supposed that the price of falling in love with your best friend was that you missed out on the initial thrill of exploring the unknown.  
  
There were compensations. The complete ease they had with each other, the lack of any unpleasant surprises regarding each other's habits or opinions... it was comfortable, and reassuring, but not unexciting. No, Tsuzuki thought as he shivered under a deft nip of teeth on his lower lip, not unexciting at all.  
  
"Are you getting the idea?"  
  
The words were warm against his lips, and Tsuzuki smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I think so."  
  
He pushed the other man back against the sofa, moving to straddle Watari's outstretched legs and initiate another kiss. Watari chuckled softly but didn't protest, tilting his face upwards. Tsuzuki felt cool metal against his cheek, and reached up to remove Watari's glasses.  
  
"I thought you wanted to cook?" Watari managed when he surfaced for air.  
  
Tsuzuki barely even paused to consider, more interested in placing small kisses on his neck. "We'll get takeout."  
  
"Can we afford takeout?" Watari asked, busying himself with the buttons on Tsuzuki's shirt.  
  
"Dunno. Did you blow anything up recently?"  
  
"Not recently. You?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then we can afford takeout."  
  
Tsuzuki cheered, moving in for another kiss. Watari stopped him with a hand on his chest.  
  
"We'll need to call for it..."  
  
Tsuzuki glanced around for the phone. It was all the way on the other side of the room, and Watari was contradicting himself by running wicked fingers down Tsuzuki's spine...  
  
"I'll do it in a minute," he said, and Watari didn't protest, just drew him down into a more comfortable position.  
  
The cookery book lay forgotten by Watari's laptop.  
  
  
- END -  
  



End file.
